Riccardo Carrai1,2, Maenia Scarpino1,2, Francesco Lolli1, Maddalena Spalletti1, Giovanni Lanzo1, Adriano Peris3, Chiara Lazzeri3, Aldo Amantini1,2, Antonello Grippo1,2. 1. SODc Neurofisiopatologia, Dipartimento Neuromuscolo-Scheletrico e degli Organi di Senso, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy. 2. Unità di Riabilitazione Neurologica, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, IRCCS, Florence, Italy. 3. SODc Cure intensive per il trauma e i supporti extracorporei, Dipartimento Neuromuscolo-Scheletrico e degli Organi di Senso, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The bilateral absence of cortical Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SEPs), after cardiac arrest (CA), is a high reliable predictor of poor outcome but it is present in no more than 40% of patients. An amplitude reduction of cortical SEPs was found in about 30% of subjects, but few papers analysed its prognostic significance. The aim of our study is to identify a value of SEP amplitude reduction below which all the CA patients had poor outcome and the relationship between SEP and Electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analysed comatose patients in whom SEPs and EEG were recorded at 6-12 hours after CA. We evaluated the sensitivity at specificity of 100% of SEP amplitude in predicting the non-recovery of consciousness by plotting Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. We also analysed the relationship between SEP amplitude and EEG patterns. Outcome was evaluated at 6 months by Glasgow Outcome Scale. RESULTS: We analysed 119 subjects. According to the ROC analysis (area under the curve = 0.95/CI 0.91-0.99), all patients with a cortical SEP amplitude <0.65 μV did not recover consciousness (GOS 1-2), with a sensitivity of 71.8%. Severe EEG abnormalities (suppression and burst-suppression patterns) were also observed in all these patients. CONCLUSION: Not only the absence but also a bilateral amplitude reduction of cortical SEPs (<0.65 μV) is associated with ominous prognosis (death or non-recovery of consciousness) with a very high predictive value. However, we emphasize that great caution should be applied before adopting amplitude reduction as a criterion for the poor prognosis of CA patients.
OBJECTIVE: The bilateral absence of cortical Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SEPs), after cardiac arrest (CA), is a high reliable predictor of poor outcome but it is present in no more than 40% of patients. An amplitude reduction of cortical SEPs was found in about 30% of subjects, but few papers analysed its prognostic significance. The aim of our study is to identify a value of SEP amplitude reduction below which all the CA patients had poor outcome and the relationship between SEP and Electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analysed comatosepatients in whom SEPs and EEG were recorded at 6-12 hours after CA. We evaluated the sensitivity at specificity of 100% of SEP amplitude in predicting the non-recovery of consciousness by plotting Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. We also analysed the relationship between SEP amplitude and EEG patterns. Outcome was evaluated at 6 months by Glasgow Outcome Scale. RESULTS: We analysed 119 subjects. According to the ROC analysis (area under the curve = 0.95/CI 0.91-0.99), all patients with a cortical SEP amplitude <0.65 μV did not recover consciousness (GOS 1-2), with a sensitivity of 71.8%. Severe EEG abnormalities (suppression and burst-suppression patterns) were also observed in all these patients. CONCLUSION: Not only the absence but also a bilateral amplitude reduction of cortical SEPs (<0.65 μV) is associated with ominous prognosis (death or non-recovery of consciousness) with a very high predictive value. However, we emphasize that great caution should be applied before adopting amplitude reduction as a criterion for the poor prognosis of CA patients.
Authors: Astrid B Glimmerveen; Hanneke M Keijzer; Barry J Ruijter; Marleen C Tjepkema-Cloostermans; Michel J A M van Putten; Jeannette Hofmeijer Journal: Front Neurol Date: 2020-04-28 Impact factor: 4.003